Samsung Electronics’ board approved a 2026 shareholder return program worth between ₩90 trillion and ₩110 trillion, approximately $65 billion to $80 billion at an exchange rate of ₩1,382 per dollar as of August 21, 2026. It is the largest capital return announced by a Korean company and roughly five times Samsung’s previous record of ₩20.3 trillion, set in 2020. Samsung shares rose approximately 3.5 percent in Seoul trading. The program reflects the profitability of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM (stacked memory for AI chips), whose physical integration with AI accelerators has created pricing power and helped Samsung’s Device Solutions semiconductor division produce ₩89.2 trillion in operating profit on ₩127.5 trillion of revenue in the second quarter of 2026, an approximately 70 percent margin. The division contributed more than 99 percent of Samsung’s total operating profit for the period. The return will be distributed in three tranches. Samsung plans approximately ₩30 trillion in Q3 2026 cash dividends, including regular quarterly dividends, with per-share amounts to be finalized at an October board meeting. The company also approved a ₩15 trillion share buyback for employee compensation, consistent with its May 2026 wage agreement. The remaining amount, potentially through dividends, buybacks or cancellations, will be decided in January 2027 after full-year results are confirmed. Total shareholder returns for 2024–2026 are expected to reach ₩120 trillion to ₩140 trillion. Samsung said server-memory demand should remain strong because of AI infrastructure spending and the expansion of agentic AI, while supply tightness could continue through 2027. UBS has projected that the DRAM market will remain undersupplied until 2028, and Samsung’s entire HBM4 capacity was committed before the announcement. The January 2027 decision will therefore provide a market test of whether HBM demand and pricing remained strong through the second half of 2026.